Because it was Dad’s Day, I chose to pass on the press box and all of its amenities and sit with my dad.

It had been a long time since I endured the cold, participated in cheers or even wore orange at an Illini football game. Although the temperature was borderline freezing, I realized I missed it. I missed sitting with my fellow students. I missed the right to cheer for my team.

But one thing I don’t miss is the comments made by some fans. There was the unreasonable, the ridiculous and the obvious. The “we suck” screams, the “I hate losing” comments and then their calls to take away scholarships from walk-ons. There was the annoying guy that thought he was on head coach Ron Zook’s coaching staff and yelled out defenses and offenses in hopes that it would benefit the Illini cause.

Then there were those fans that were quite reasonable in their remarks.

“This has to be a joke or a bad nightmare,” one fan muttered. I completely agreed. Leading up to Saturday’s game, Illinois had made some strides and were playing better than they had all year. Not only was Saturday Dad’s Day and Senior Day, it was the first time in a while Illinois was favored to win. I, probably along with most of the Champaign-Urbana population, thought the Illini would come out and played inspired. This was far from the case.

Bad thing after bad thing seemed to happen for Illinois in the second half. I found my face in my hands several different times and, rightfully so – Illinois fumbled 8 separate times. Luckily, Purdue recovered only half of them. In possibly his worst game since coming to Champaign, Juice Williams completed only 28 percent of his passes and was responsible for four fumbles and one interception for a 48.2 quarterback rating.

That’s what you call a tough day.

But it was not just Williams. Rashard Mendenhall and Pierre Thomas each fumbled once. Illinois turned the ball over four times in a sequence of five plays in the second half. Purdue scored touchdowns off of three of these miscues. Illinois’ 23-14 lead quickly vanished in a matter of minutes.

Illinois’ defense took a couple steps backward against the Big Ten’s top-ranked offense but the Illini offense – turning the ball over as often as they did – made it hard for the defense to keep the score down. But what else is expected when Purdue’s average starting field position in the second half was their own 43-yard line? Thanks to three second-half turnovers, Purdue reeled off 28 straight points in just more than eight minutes. The Boilermakers scored more points and collected more yards than any other Illinois opponent this year.

Pinch me. I hope Saturday’s game was just a nightmare.

Juice

With one game left in the season, Williams must be happy to see his first season come to a close. With Purdue’s defense putting pressure on Williams, the quarterback ran the ball 22 times, more than Pierre Thomas and Rashard Mendenhall combined. I had to turn away when I saw some of the hits Purdue put on him.

The offensive line needs to give Williams more time protection and the freshman quarterback needs to do a better job of going through his progressions before taking off. Williams needs to throw the ball much more for the sake of the team and his future.

I can’t imagine what Juice feels like the Sunday after a game. Instead of sliding or running out of bounds to avoid hits like the majority of quarterbacks do, Juice takes each hit the defense gives him. If Williams is the savior of the program like some are saying, I hope he learns that avoiding a big hit is sometimes just as important as gaining the extra yardage.

Troy Murray is a junior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].